The Winds May Be Shifting

The complaint with California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing from a lesbian couple sought an order to force a Christian baker in Bakersfield to provide a cake for their same-sex wedding.

The odds were not good for the baker. A similar suit filed in Oregon on the basis of discrimination was won for that same-sex couple, and the baker was ordered to pay $135,000 in fees and was forced to close the shop’s doors due to declining business.

The same fate befell a Christian photographer who refused to photograph a same-sex wedding in New Mexico. Despite submitting Amicus briefs from the likes of the Cato Institute, supporters of same-sex marriage, the New Mexico court did not agree that photography is an art. But, the winds may be shifting.

And now, in a stunning decision in the Bakersfield baker case, the California Superior Court Judge ruled against the lesbian couple, writing, “A wedding cake is not just a cake in a Free Speech analysis.”

The judge went on to say, “It is an artistic expression by the person making it that is to be used traditionally as a centerpiece in the celebration of a marriage. There could not be a greater form of expressive conduct.”

On November 14, 2017, the ACLU, an organization that seldom shares our principles, had this to say about artistic expression:

“…a free society is based on the principle that each and every individual has the right to decide what art or entertainment he or she wants — or does not want — to receive or create. Once you allow the government to censor someone else, you cede to it the power to censor you, or something you like. Censorship is like poison gas: a powerful weapon that can harm you when the wind shifts.”

Advocates for Faith & Freedom appreciates your faithful prayers that the winds will continue to shift in our favor in these cases defending life and religious liberty in the courts!